by V. F. Mason
“Ryder.”
“You.” Thrust. “Are.” Thrust. “Mine.”
“Yes, only yours,” I whisper, flexing my hips around him while my pussy clenches. Pleasure flows over me in waves, luring me to drown in it as he gradually increases his pace, the strokes becoming almost unbearable. “Just yours.”
“Professor’s favorite little pet,” he whispers, biting my neck. Then he growls against my shoulder when my core spasms, scorching heat consuming my body. “Never doubt that.”
“I won’t.”
The pressure inside me grows and grows as he drives in me roughly, pushing me to the edge harder and faster until finally the peak comes, and then he kisses me just before my cry echoes through the office.
One. Two. Three more strokes and he groans, erupting inside me as I hug him close, welcoming everything he can give me.
The wall clock ticks loudly as the haze disappears and our surroundings register in my mind. “I can’t believe we did it here,” I exclaim and then giggle. “You turned me into a bad girl, Professor.”
I feel him smile, although he still breathes me in, rubbing his chin over my shoulder. “No, I turned you into my girl.”
With him holding me tight in his embrace, our bodies connected in the most primal way, and our heartbeats drumming against each other, I come to the decision from which there will be no escape.
I will no longer keep this relationship as some kind of dirty secret that needs to be hidden or forbidden.
My brother will either accept it or try to destroy it, but at least I will respect him enough to tell him the truth.
And maybe, just maybe in this fairy tale, the dragon will not blow fire on the dashing prince who came after the princess, and instead he’ll welcome him into the castle for how happy he makes the one he guarded for so long.
Or at least a girl can hope.
Chapter Nine
“Once, an old man in Greece told me that the family name is the most valuable thing a person can have.
For it tells you about your roots, letting you be closer to your ancestors and never truly alone in the world.
How ironic.
Because all my family’s actions, no matter good or bad, aimed toward me somehow always ends up screwing up my life in ways I’ve ever anticipated.
And their existence alone has ensured my loneliness.”
Ryder
* * *
Estella
Heat surrounds me, settling on my skin like hot coals bringing discomfort to me. Rolling to the side, my eyes snap open only to close again when the bright sunlight streaming from the open shades blinds me.
Covering myself with a sheet to avoid it, I shift to my back again, and a groan slips past my lips when pain echoes in every muscle in my body, even in those that never hurt, before bringing memories of yesterday in vivid colors.
After our little tryst in his office, Ryder adjusted our clothes and waited several minutes to calm down before letting me go to the girls, who guessed right away what happened and told me I was playing with fire. Still, they discussed the upcoming concert and wondered if Ryder would stalk me to it too, and I didn’t have the heart to tell them that he probably would.
Once we were done, I went to the library to work for a few hours, and that’s where Ryder found me, whisking me away because he had a surprise prepared for me. I was so lost I even forgot my bag with the phone there once again!
He arranged a dinner in the penthouse for us with Italian cuisine and a projector with two of my all-time favorite black-and-white movies; so needless to say, the ending to the day was as epic as its beginning.
Maybe if someone had told me having a relationship is so much fun and rids you of your fears and doubts while filling you with hope that urges you to be more daring in your life, I would have tried one sooner.
However, deep down, I know it’s about Ryder and not just any man.
Because my man is special to me, just like I am to him.
A smile shapes my mouth, and a giggle escapes me before I peek from the covers again. Blinking several times to adjust my vision, I sit up, shivering a little at the cold air settling on my heated and sweaty skin.
Looking around the spacious room consisting of a huge bed, bedside tables, and a massive wardrobe that stores a lot of my clothes since I practically live here, I search for my man, but he is nowhere in sight.
A thrill rushes through my veins, adding to the happiness bubbling up inside me.
My man.
I quite enjoy saying that, and if having one means waking up fully satisfied after he used my body however he saw fit and brought me so much pleasure my voice became hoarse from all the whimpers and cries… I want to say it for the rest of my life.
“Ryder,” I call, but no reply comes, and I swing my legs to the side, hissing when my bare feet connect with cold marble.
We’ve agreed to go to my brother and introduce him as a new development in my life after I’m finished at school today. Although his eyes flashed in surprise at this information, he agreed right away. However, I haven’t missed the tension rising in him and the brooding energy floating in the air around us.
As if he’s preparing for a battle he intends to win at all costs, but such thoughts are ridiculous.
“Ryder,” I try again and then notice a glass of water on the bedside table along with a note.
Picking up the glass, I take a greedy sip and welcome the cooling sensation in my dry throat while reading the note written in his perfect handwriting.
I guess all the things about him are so perfect that one might wonder how such a perfect example of a male exists?
I’ll be back shortly.
Breakfast is on the table.
Eat and then wait for me.
Shaking my head at him managing to give off a commanding tone in the note, I put it back in its place as my stomach growls loudly, reminding me I haven’t had food in my mouth for almost sixteen hours.
Snagging his shirt laying on the edge of the bed, I put it on and then head to the kitchen, where I see a plate full of eggs, an avocado, and a croissant.
The man even knows my favorite foods.
Grabbing a fork, I dig into the eggs and groan when they hit my tongue, the delicious taste filling my mouth, and I ponder what I should do next.
It’s Wednesday, so I have one class in history and then a meeting with the girls, who will probably grill me on why I haven’t picked up any calls. Josephine drives us all crazy by constantly adjusting our schedule and expecting replies right away.
I blush just thinking about all the things we did last night, and I understand Josephine in this moment. I’m not sure such things should be shared with friends, for they are too intimate and private. Good thing Morgan decided to withhold details.
I’ll have to stop by my apartment first though to grab my paper due tomorrow before I can go to the library and get my bag along with all the important stuff in it. Thank God Octavius offered to buy me an apartment in town so I wouldn’t have to drive so far to our family mansion, because he would instantly know about my so-called walk of shame.
Finishing the main course, I grab the croissant, breaking it in two, when the annoying sound of a phone ringing startles me, and I pause the pastry midway to my mouth.
I’m surprised Ryder owns a house phone in his penthouse, but relief sags through me, because it means I can call Henderson so he can bring the car here.
The phone continues to ring until the call-announcing voice message adds to it and a deep voice speaks up, instantly changing the energy around me as if predicting the upcoming disaster. “I’ve listened to that fucking sound for so long now, since you never bother to pick up, that I’m starting to hate it. Why don’t you just record some message for us all, telling us to fuck ourselves? I’d find it more pleasing than this shit.”
I blink at how much profanity this man uses and how he addresses Ryder like that, because he doesn’t strike me as a man who would accept it kindl
y.
“So Jaxon told me you’re in Chicago and seducing Octavius Reed’s sister at that.”
I freeze, the croissant dropping on the plate with a soft thud, as all my attention belongs to the man.
“When he told me this for the first time, I didn’t believe him. You, Ryder MacAlister, our older brother, finally decided to do something that would benefit the brotherhood? After years of ignoring us, even when we could use your torture skills.” Torture skills? “Color me fucking surprised.”
Panic glides over me, threatening to slip into me, and I grip the counter hard, waiting for him to elaborate, hoping like a fool that I understood him wrong.
“Anyway, I looked into Estella Reed, and if you wanted to stick it to the Four Dark Horsemen for destroying our warehouse a few months ago, you should have picked some other options. Honestly, the innocent, sheltered thing is great bait, since Octavius would go batshit crazy over her. But still, bro. Morals. We don’t use women as weapons. Imagine if someone used our Davina like that,” he growls, and I hear him lighting up a cigarette. “I’d fucking kill whoever tried.” His voice turns deadly, leaving no doubt he would follow up on his words.
While still trying to make sense of all this, a horrible realization crashes into me in waves, threatening to consume me whole in ways I’ll never recover from.
Because all the blocks align in my head, and his family name rings a bell. It never did before, because I never expected him to be connected to them.
MacAlister.
A powerful, New York Irish mafia family who engages in various crimes and rules it with an iron fist, casting mayhem wherever they go, deeming themselves invincible.
Any action they take has one purpose only.
For them, to serve the family is above anything and anyone else.
They can even kill an innocent if it means saving their brotherhood, to preserve the legacy left to them by their father who, according to rumors, was one of the cruelest men in the country.
He didn’t even mind sacrificing his own child when a certain deal went wrong, so he sent his son to the pits of hell, never to be seen or heard from again.
Despicable, despicable family consisting of five siblings with hollowness and danger reeking from them who share identical cold green eyes warning you to stay away.
Jaxon, Cillian, Duncan, Douglas, and finally their only sister who everyone dotes on and protects at all costs, Davina. The last three are triplets, and their connection is legendary.
Contrary to what everyone believes, I’m not naïve or blind.
The Four Dark Horsemen, a brotherhood formed by Octavius and his three other friends, are ruthless, cruel, and they murder people who they find guilty of hideous crimes.
They mete out justice according to their own judgment where laws no longer apply, and while it sounds bad, I don’t feel sorry for any of their victims, because they deserve it.
Although it doesn’t justify the crimes, of course. Bad or good people, if they take a weapon in their hand with the intent to kill, they are murderers who can’t hope to ever enter heaven.
Darkness forever smears your soul in ways you’ll never be able to wash off.
However, the MacAlister clan is a different beast all together.
A family who doesn’t mind sacrificing their own for the sake of the brotherhood can never be trusted.
At least my family, and that includes all Dark Four, would never go against each other.
The man on the other end of the line though stays relentless, pushing his point across, unaware that the “bait” is listening to him.
“I’ve come up with an alternative. Let’s just go back to the negotiating table and hash out the terms with them after our last fuckup, and this way you won’t have to steal anyone’s virtue and become a monster in her nightmare.” He laughs, the sound causing chills down my spine while tears form in my eyes, and although I wish this man would shut up, I listen to the horrible truth explaining to me in all its glory why Ryder is interested in me in the first place.
His obsession. His words. His actions.
Lies. Lies. Lies.
Designed to create webs of deceit around my heart and mind, to wrap around me so tightly he will consume me, only to sacrifice me at the altar of their greed and transform my love into a weapon he can use against my brother.
“Besides, these fuckers are insane. Who knows how they will retaliate? I’m telling you, Ryder. Stop fucking around and come back home. You might be the Hades who goes around catching all those criminals and dropping them on the police’s doorstep, but these guys have their personal torture chambers. Sick fuckers, I’m telling you.”
For a second, the entire world disappears, and whatever else the man says disappears into the background while loud screeching fills my ears, and my heart beats so wildly I feel it dancing in my chest, sending pain through me.
Hades.
Do you find his actions fascinating? Or do they horrify you?
Oh my God.
The man whose actions I followed and cheered on, even though everyone found it disturbing… is Ryder?
A man who touched me so gently yet passionately, while his eyes watched me intently, is a man whose hands torture people to the point no one recognizes them so they drown in their misery?
One of the psychologists who studied his cases on TV once mentioned that although he punishes only those who deserve it, no one with a normal psyche would do such a thing.
And as such, his obsessions might be very dangerous, because when people refuse to play by his rules, he might react in the most unpredictable ways.
Octavius and his friends have reasons for their actions.
Ryder’s cruelty though runs through his veins, and God only knows how it will turn against my family once he finds out his perfect plan failed and I now know the truth.
I get up so swiftly the chair falls to the floor with a loud thud, snapping me out of my stupor, and I step back, fear sinking into my bones and enveloping me whole, leaving no rational thoughts inside me.
Without thinking, I dash to the elevator and press several times for the ground floor, the time moving agonizingly slow as it descends, my mind counting seconds, expecting to see Ryder any minute, who would know something has happened.
One minute, I’m downstairs, flying through the hallway to the shocked stare of the butler.
Two minutes, and I catch a cab, hopping inside it and asking the surprised driver to take me to the mansion, and he listens to me while getting us into heavy traffic.
Forty minutes later, I arrive home, with our butler, Antony, greeting me as concern etches on his features, but he asks me no questions, just throws his jacket over me before taking me inside.
He calls Octavius while I go upstairs and lock myself in my room. I slide down the door as sobs finally overtake me and tears stream down my cheeks.
Because once again, a monster attacked me to get to my brother, and I had no other choice but to run.
Run straight back home, where my brother has to protect me again, putting himself in danger, and more sobs emerge from me, soaking my shirtsleeve.
It seems my new life ended before it could begin.
All because I decided to trust a man who never wanted me in the first place.
Chapter Ten
“I always thought when your heart breaks, it’s soundless pain, barely noticeable yet it leaves deep scars behind.
I was wrong.
The shattering sound of its breaking will haunt me forever.
For when your heart breaks… it destroys your world.
And how do you live in a world that no longer exists while your organ bleeds and slowly sucks the soul out of you?”
Estella
* * *
Estella
Getting out of the steaming shower, I wrap a towel around myself and let the water drip on the tiled floor while slowly going to the mirror and wiping the fog away, then staring back at my hollow reflection.
Various hickeys, the stamp of ownership Ryder put on me while whispering illicit things in my ear, mar my flushed skin that’s so red and sensitive from all the rubbing I did, hoping to wash away any traces of him yet failing miserably.
At least his scent no longer lingers, and I intend to burn his shirt lying on the floor, a cloth reminding me of my shame and his success.
After all, he managed to seduce the “sheltered, innocent creature” and probably went out to let his brothers know about his victory.
My fists clench, fury zapping through my veins and boiling my blood while the cry in my throat stills, although I want to break something to let my frustration out.
Just this morning, I was the happiest woman on earth, and now I’m a woman scorned, and that’s not the worst part.
Oh, no.
I had to go and have a secret relationship with a murderer who wants to hurt my family.
Which means my brother has to know the truth, and just anticipating his look of disappointment hurts me.
So much for disliking Paris. I ended up just like him, bringing trouble home, and my brother has to fix it all for me, since I’m powerless to go against the mafia clan on my own.
“Face the music, Estella,” I order myself and then dry off before slipping on my jeans and hoodie, welcoming the warmth, although it does little to the coldness sinking its claws in my heart. “And confess.”
The sooner my brother knows about it, the faster he can do damage control and protect his brotherhood from whatever attack that awful MacAlister clan plans.
I step out of the bathroom just as Antonio, who has known us since we were in diapers, walks in, holding a silver tray with a steaming cup on it and some cookies.
A harsh wind whooshes over me, slipping in from the wide-open balcony door and billowing the yellow curtains back. They slap me on the cheek, making my toes curl into the fluffy white carpet spread all over the floor.